


Wishful Thinking

by siriuslygrednforge



Category: The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, I guess???, Kastle Christmas Secret Santa Gift Exchange, christmas with some angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 08:12:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13142598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siriuslygrednforge/pseuds/siriuslygrednforge
Summary: Another Christmas Eve where Karen Page is all alone, but for some reason, hopes for Frank Castle to show up.





	Wishful Thinking

**Author's Note:**

> For allmyfuckingobsessions on tumblr. I hope you like this! I really suck at writing AUs, though I might write one some day.  
> Merry Christmas Carmen!!! <333

“I appreciate your dedication to your work but I think you should go home now”

Her fingers stopped typing as she looked up to see Ellison standing at her door, bundled up in a coat and scarf. It was nearly 9pm and the rest of the office looked empty as half the people were gathering their stuff to head back home.

“I-”

“Go home.”

_To what?_

Karen thought to herself, remembering that she had no one and nothing to go back home to. Every Christmas she felt the number of things and people she held dear reduced one by one and this year, she had nothing but her lonely self and a big empty flat. Then again, she knew it was useless arguing with Ellison over this and started gathering her stuff as well.

 

 

 

She was the last to leave. The cold December eve brushed against her cheeks as she rubbed her palms together for warmth. The street was nearly empty, with most people staying in for Christmas. She looked around, wishing she could see someone, see him. This had happened before, with Frank pretending to be a homeless man, waiting for her. She hoped and prayed for it to happen again.

She stood like that for two minutes. Nothing happened. Frank didn’t come.

Karen didn’t know what it was about Frank Castle that made it impossible to get him out of her mind. She never heard from him after the Lewis incident, though at times she swore he was around, looking out for her. Maybe watching her from afar or at least, keeping her in his thoughts. She didn’t know what it was, the connection that they had. Or the feelings she had for him. Something had happened in that elevator that day, she always thought while replaying the memory in her head. Their foreheads touching, bodies burdened with exhaustion, their breathing ragged and his eyes burning with into her. It wasn’t different from the way he looked at her, but she could feel it more intensely than before. It was hard to let him go but she knew she had to.

_Wishful thinking_

She thought and shook her head, walking ahead to cross the street.

 

 

“Hey”

Karen stopped before climbing the step and bit her lip, trying to calm her beating heart. It was the same ragged voice she hears at the back of her mind at times. Slowly, she turned around to see Frank Castle stand before her, looking as nervous as she was.

“Erm…hey” she said weakly, not knowing what to say or do. Part of her wanted to punch him in the face, shake him and yell at him for just disappearing. Not that she knew what had happened to him after their last meeting, but she had expected him to at least let her know about it himself. Then again, the other part of her just wanted to throw her arms around him and wrap him in a tight hug.

“I, uh...”

“Do you, uh, wanna come upstairs?” she said, simultaneously wondering why she did that.

“Yeah, that...that would be great” Frank said, breaking into a grin, which was something Karen rarely got to see. It made her feel warm and fuzzy on the inside and she was now both terrified & excited to know about this unexpected visit from him.

 

 

“Merry Christmas” he said, laying the cake, wine and flowers on the table. They were a shocking bright shade of yellow, which was very different from the white ones he had brought her earlier to keep in the window just in case she wanted to see him. The same white flowers which were on her window sill.

“Is that why you are here?”

“Look, I’m sorry I-“

“Just answer the question Frank.”

“Pete.”

“You and I both know that I’m never calling you that” she said, sitting down on the sofa, her eyes still on him.

“Yeah.” Frank said, sitting down on the sofa beside her. “I wanted to see you.”

_And I wanted to see you as well._

“I, erm…I’m sorry I never got back to you after-”

“Its okay”

“Look, I know you’re angry but please just hear me out.”

“Frank, its Christmas Eve. And I don’t want to argue about this now. At all.”

“So you think I’m being a buzzkill?”

Karen couldn’t help but break into a smile. She had almost forgotten what a giant pain in the neck Frank could be. But she was really, really glad he was here.

“There. That’s perfect” he said, looking at her, the grin slowly fading away.

Karen looked at him as he lowered his gaze from her face to the ground. She reached for his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I’ll get the cake and wine” she said, getting up. She looked at him once again, his gaze still fixed on the floor.

 

Karen went back to the kitchen counter and stood there, trying to take a deep breath and calm down. She had never known Frank to do something like this, save for that one time he kissed her on the cheek one night after a conversation.

_Wishful thinking._

She thought again and took another deep breath, grabbing two plates for the cake.

“Be my after.”

“Jesus Christ, Frank!” she exclaimed, startled by his voice. Karen turned around to see him stand before her, eyes fixated on her face and not on the ground, though there was a hint of nervousness in his voice.

“Remember when you told me you wanted me to have ‘an after’?”

“Yeah”

“Be my after, then.”

 

This time, he sounded confident, like he usually did whenever they spoke. His eyes burned the same way they did that day in the elevator. This time, it was Karen who lowered her gaze to the floor, resting her back against her counter, trying to make sense of what was happening. Trying to believe that this was actually happening and its not in her head.

 

They stood like that for what seemed like an eternity, but was probably just a minute.

 

“Frank, I…”

“Please.” He said, inching closer to her. Karen stood there, deep breath after deep breath, her hands holding on to the edge of the counter tightly. “Please” Frank said, his voice low and deep, but almost like a whisper. He hadn’t done something like this in a very long time, she could tell. Then again, she had never felt like this in a long time either, not since Matt.

Matt.

He flashed before her eyes, smiling with his glasses on. Happy memories of them being replaced by the ones where she found the woman in her bed, followed by the night he told her he was Daredevil and the one where he never came back from what had happened at Midland Circle. She knew he was gone but she refused to believe it. Then again, she knew that even if he did make it out and come back, he would never come back to her. They could never be together anymore, whereas Frank….Frank was real. Frank was real and honest with her and was always there for her. Even if she hated him for the things he did, she loved him too.

 

_She loves him_

She realized.

_And he loves her too._

And here she was, standing confused about this thing, this thing that she had, between her and Frank. This connection everyone keeps asking and telling her about. She had this, she had Frank. She had everything.

 

And she did what he had told her that night in the diner.

 

Grabbing his hands in both her hands, she kissed them and raised her head to look at him.

 

“Merry Christmas, Frank” she said, her hands holding his tight, almost like she would hold on to them and never let go.

**Author's Note:**

> Aaaaahhh so I haven't written in like, almost a year, but I love these two way too much and also, the Kastle Secret Santa Exchange was a fantastic idea, so I couldn't help myself. Would love to know what you think about it! :D


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